The American Dissent

On today’s show, Sam and Jen stunned by Trump’s unhinged campaign remarks: he doesn’t care about high gas prices or even if Iran were to wipe out Los Angeles and San Diego! What a psycho! Israel is in very bad shape internally, according to the CIA. The economy is hurting. Badly. So why the hell is the stock market booming? When with the merry-go-round end?

Polling check-in and finally wrapping up with Abdul El-Sayed cooking on Fox News and Angie Nixon being unbelievably impressive. PLEASE SUPPORT ANGIE NIXON IN FLORIDA!!!

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On today’s show, Sam and Jen can barely contain their disgust with Secretary of “War” Pete Hegseth, who gave one of the most loony-bin speeches yet from the Trump administration (deep bench, we know). The conversation, as is often the case, glides into the economy and the massive impact of AI.

Eventually, Jen gets Sam to forget about the AI nonsense and turn the discussion to the DOJ’s war against judges, especially judges in Minnesota. US AG Todd Blanche has filed ethics complaints against a bunch of Minnesota judges for making public statements that they specifically cleared with ethics boards before making them. Blanche is a complete embarrassment to the legal profession.

Lastly, Jen was on Minnesota Public Radio to answer questions about the latest news on hospital mergers and consolidation in the region. It’s not good, folks!

Please inform yourselves about all of the elections that affect you. So many down ballot races are hugely consequential to our day-to-day lives. Want to learn about hundreds of them around the country? Of course you do! Check out Bolts online at Boltsmag.org

Bolts Mag guide to the 2026 General Elections: https://boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-ballot/guide-to-2026-general-election/

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On today’s episode, Sam and Jen dive into the Idiocracy we’ve become. Trump’s insane government ad spend and his insistence on rebranding AI as SI. The intelligence isn’t artificial, apparently…it’s SUPER! Sigh. All of these AI guys just keep giving him money, so they’ll join him in this childish nonsense. At least it helps them avoid answering questions or facing any accountability whatsoever.

Jen returns to Trump’s attack on immigrants. This time its the administration’s idea to have citizenship become a part of IRS tax forms. This will likely cost tens of billions of revenue to disappear. Trump is desperate to bankrupt this country in as many ways as he can find.

We wrap up with a recap of the insane Republican circus on capitol hill as they remind Americans of Trump’s crimes in a pathetic attempt to trap Special Prosecutor Jack Smith in a lie. They succeeded in reminding us all of the utter contempt Trump has for the laws of the United States. They failed and “nailing” Jack Smith. Let’s chalk that up as a win for sanity.

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On today’s episode, Sam does a deep dive into three stories. First, taking a look in the Middle East at the latest reporting on Netanyahu’s craven inaction in the face of warnings prior to October 7 and at Google Earth’s updated photos of the destruction in Gaza.

Second, ICE is making people disappear by the thousands and immigration “courts” are a travesty of justice as they try unaccompanied children without representation in an Orwellian nightmare.

Lastly, a look at the Fed’s history of aiding and abetting the big banks as they look to avoid the regulations meant to prevent another 2008.

Here are the three articles used in today’s show:

From El País: https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-09-29/gaza-before-and-after-new-google-maps-imagery-shows-destruction-of-the-strip.html
From the American Immigration Council: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/ice-electronically-disappears-detainee-locator/

From The American Prospect: https://prospect.org/2026/09/03/federal-reserve-lawless-trump-wall-street-dodd-frank/

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On today’s show, Sam is joined by Minnesota Nurses Association President Chris Rubesch. Before the interview, a monologue on the disgraceful speech at the UN General Assembly by war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the interview, Chris discusses what nurses are facing and how their needs as workers are so important for all of our needs as patients; the impact of our broken system on the quality and availability of needed medical care, especially in rural places; and how consolidation and monopolization in the industry is ruining health care for both patients and providers.

We also get into the politics of unions and the aspirations the MNA has for legislation and politicians moving forward.

Please check out MNA’s website and sign up to receive their latest news and updates: https://mnnurses.org/news/

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On today’s show, Sam and Jen get into the economic weeds. Diesel embargoes, Treasury bonds, AI’s potential to upset the economy generally. It’s all interconnected and ties together in amazing ways.Meanwhile, Trump’s embarrassing performance at the UN where he threatened genocide against Iran receives a response from Iran as nations continue distancing themselves from the United States. Israel’s relentless crimes continue unabated.On the brighter side, we finish off by taking a look at and example of good politics and good policy. Hat tip to both Abdul El-Sayed and to Mayor Zohran Mamdani!Music licensed through Soundstripe.Code: LIPPQYRUP041WRZ8

On today’s show, Jen starts us out with a “fraud” update as the Trump administration comes up with yet another excuse to maliciously kick people off of their health insurance.Trump put himself in a media blackout. Polling looking incredible for Democrats around the country.But the big story is the sheer cravenness of top Democrats in California as they cave to Larry and David Ellison and force through the merger of Paramount/Skydance and Warner/Discovery,  two companies that, from the slashes in their names, are ALREADY consolidations of prior, smaller companies. This is an incredibly dark day for the country. Shame on Newsom, Becerra, Bass, and Bonta for allowing this merger to go through.Sam finishes off with an explanation of why he doesn’t support Bernie’s latest legislative attempt to rein in AI. The goal is good: the method is not.Check out Open Markets Institute here: https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/Majority Report episode with guest David Dayen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wURP69xAY5QThe Tech Report episode with Eli the Computer Guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YIczZDCgsMMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: LIPPQYRUP041WRZ8

On today’s episode, Sam and Jen do a quick news roundup before turning to a discussion on AI. We have receipts! There are excellent journalists doing incredible work on this beat, and we do a roundup of some of the latest. What can we do RIGHT NOW? What are the real dangers and what is Sci-Fi narrative that doesn’t have a provable basis in reality? What are politicians doing (or not doing)? Who’s getting paid off and who’s genuinely trying to do what’s best?It’s all messy, and for political junkies, it’s not a team sport narrative. There are Dems who are good on this, but there are Dems totally in thrall to the tech industry running cover for their excesses. Republicans in power are committed to doing absolutely nothing, but that’s not how their voters feel. AI is THE political issue that’s truly cracking the partisan divide, creating strange bedfellows and the political opportunities are legion for those with the courage to take the issue on.Hat tip to these wonderful journalists/outlets who we draw on in today’s episode:David Sirota and The Lever Podcast with Ed Zitron and Matt Stoller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSK3O4L9Jac&t=3021sEd Zitron and his blog Where’s Your Ed At: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ai-is-already-in-dangerous-hands/David Sirota’s The Lever article on Jay Carney: https://www.levernews.com/why-are-dems-touting-their-capture-by-ai-oligarchs/?ref=lever-daily-newsletterLuke Goldstein’s The Lever Article on Hakeem Jeffries’ AI commission: https://www.levernews.com/big-ais-favorite-democrats-are-writing-the-partys-ai-plan/Ashley Gold’s Semafor article on Senators adding AI antitrust exemption to defense bill: https://www.semafor.com/article/09/16/2026/senators-sought-to-add-ai-antitrust-exemption-to-defense-billMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: LIPPQYRUP041WRZ8

On today’s show, Sam is joined by Minnesota State Senator Jen McEwen of Duluth to talk about Dems not just taking power, but actually using it! A novel concept, I know, but one that yielded incredible results. As Dems in Minnesota prepare for another round of accomplishments, what are they planning, and what can we all expect?

A big part of the conversation is data centers. What can the state do? What can regular people do? If local governments have moved ahead with plans the people are against, what actions can they take? Senator McEwen is kind enough to answer these questions and more!

First, though, a tale of greed and cowardice: how Robert Kraft defends Israel, Ed Sheeran caves to pressure, and Macklemore stands up for human rights.

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On today’s show, Sam and Jen round up some wacky news. Trump attacks his Supreme Court justices when they break with him on mail-in voting. Republicans are under water on nearly every issue. GOP PACs are spending all of their money in districts Trump won. You wanna know what they think is really going on in the election? Follow the money!

New polling in Minnesota and unearthed oppo on GOP Senate nominee Michele Tafoya from her days as a podcaster (which were after her days as an NFL sideline reporter on Sunday Night Football). 

At the end of the day, it’s going to be the economic stuff that rules the day with these elections. The war in Iran and, to a lesser extent, the war between Yemen and Saudi Arabia: these are what will decide fuel prices. Fuel prices will decide this election. Even in Kansas!

Mitch McConnell went out in public: NO VIDEO ALLOWED! Thank goodness for a brief video from TMZ! NOT a good look.

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